The Institute
The Canadian Rivers Institute (CRI) was founded in 2000 as a collaboration of researchers at the University of New Brunswick at both the Fredericton and Saint John campuses. The mandate of the CRI is to develop the aquatic science needed to understand, protect, and sustain water resources for the region, nation, and the planet. Initially founded with two Canada Research Chairs and two additional professors, the CRI has grown to include 15 Fellows (the principles), 50 Associates, 15 staff, and 80 graduate students with linkages to researchers across Canada.
Our Objective
The objective of the CRI is to build a network of researchers with common interests in aquatic science across universities, government, and industry. The CRI uses a multidisciplinary and cross-sector approach to focus its research on societal demands for water resources while addressing the challenges of sustaining, healthy aquatic ecosystems. This innovative model merges academic ideas-based and applied needs-based science and promotes the rapid transfer of new knowledge to regulatory agencies to create effective public policy for improving society and the quality of life in Canada and abroad. According to the 2009 Report of Expert Panel 'Outcome Measurement Study' for the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, "the CRI and its dedicated researchers have... had a very high impact on socio-economic issues."
CRI Locations
The CRI is based at UNB Saint John and Fredericton, but continues to expand with Fellows located at the University of Prince Edward Island, Université du Québec, Wilfred Laurier University, and at CRI research nodes in Pinawa, MB and Kelowna, BC. At UNB Fredericton, Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada have co-located three federal scientists into UNB’s academic community.
On the Saint John campus, the CRI focuses on the environmental impacts of industrial and agricultural operations with an Ecosystem Health Assessment Laboratory (K. Munkittrick), a Fish Reproductive Physiology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory (J. Kieffer), and the Chemical Contamination of Food Webs (K. Kidd) Research Laboratory.
On the Fredericton campus, the emphasis is primarily on aquatic ecology and engineering through the New Brunswick Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (A. Curry; Professor of Recreational Fisheries), Benthic Macroinvertebrate Laboratory (A. Curry), Stable Isotopes in Nature Laboratory (R. Cunjak), Laboratory for Mitigating Impacts of Hydroelectric Development (S. Peake), Sediment Dynamics Research Laboratory (Haralampides), and Groundwater Studies Group (MacQuarrie). The federal partners are the co-location of the National Water Research Institute’s Centre for Multistressor Effects on Aquatic Biodiversity (J. Culp, D. Baird) and the Gulf of St. Lawrence Estuaries Research Group of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Gulf Region (S. Courtenay).
A Cooperative Approach
In addition to collaborations on specific research projects, the CRI has many partners across many sectors. Cooperative research agreements exist with Environment Canada’s National Water Research Institute and the Atlantic Region, as well as with New Brunswick’s Departments of Natural Resources and Environment. We have collaborative industrial projects in forestry, pulp and paper, hydro-electricity generation, and oil refining. Research funding for the CRI totalled more than $5M annually with an additional $2.5M in in-kind and matching funding from its partners.
Several of CRI collaborations involve non-government agencies such as the Atlantic Coastal Action Plan, EMAN (Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network), Trout Unlimited Canada, and local conservation groups across Atlantic Canada. Research agreements with similar institutes in the USA, France, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile continue to be added.
The CRI Seeks To:
- Foster participation and support collaboration through access to our infrastructure by inviting participating scientists and graduate students to actively participate in existing projects
- Conduct large river basin projects and develop a commitment to supporting common research methodologies so that the results of projects can be compared
- Develop interdisciplinary field courses for training professionals in river sciences, and offer those courses across Canada and internationally
- Increase interuniversity collaboration in undergraduate and graduate teaching in river sciences
CRI Education
The CRI is committed to developing undergraduate and graduate training in river sciences, and field-based, training opportunities for students and professionals in areas of benthic invertebrate sampling, electrofishing, watershed management, river restoration, ecosystem sciences, and ecotoxicology. These courses flow through UNB, but are delivered across Canada and around the world (Cuba, Australia, Portugal, Ireland, Mexico, and Chile).
Undergraduate training and a B.Sc. in Water Resources Management are offered by the CRI through UNB’s Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management.
